This invention relates to a mini, self-propelled armored vehicle and, more particularly, to a small, one-man, very maneuverable, low cost, armored vehicle expecially adapted to be used for security purposes, such as patrols, alarm responses, protection of critical transactions, hostage situations contention, seige, bomb threat support, etc.
At the present time, unfortunately, a need frequently arises to defend or protect against shows of force, and sometimes terrorist use of force, for theft, sabotage, extortion, political aims, etc. by individuals and small groups. Defensive or protective measures against such acts or threatened acts are included in the term security and involve the guarding of vulnerable critical establishments, such as airports, atomic installations, important industrial facilities, etc., as well as contending with terrorists, hostages, bomb threats, seige and other comparable situations which require the use of armed civil forces.
Many military actions are undertaken on the proven assumption that in order to win, an adversary must be outnumbered two to one, assuming equal capabilities. An object of this invention is to reduce those odds greatly, say one to five, in security situations by protecting individual defenders against weapons usually employed by adversaries, such as pistols, rifles, grenades, home-made bombs, etc., without reducing unduly the offensive capabilities of such defenders. Such reduction in odds would correspondingly reduce the number of defenders required to successfully contend against a given number of adversaries and consequently result in manpower savings.
Small armored vehicles adaptable for such protective purposes are not new as shown, for example, by the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
Thomasette--1,438,878 filed on Dec. 12, 1922; PA0 Tapp--2,404,256 filed on July 16, 1946; PA0 Williams--2,432,107 filed on Dec. 9, 1947; PA0 Baldine--2,722,986 filed on Nov. 8, 1955; PA0 Alexander--Des. 144.344 filed on Apr. 9, 1946; PA0 Miller--Des. 228,232 filed on Aug. 28, 1973;
The vehicles shown in the above patents, however, involve for the most part complicated expensive or unstable designs, e.g. endless tracks, rotatable gun turrets, floatation devices motorcycle-type arrangements, etc. One exception may be the vehicle shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 228,232, but it is impossible to determine the important mechanical and structural attributes thereof. Moreover, it would appear the vehicle shown in that design patent is adapted only for using toxic or semi-toxic gas in offensive or defensive actions. Further, its arrangements for engine air intake and exhaust do not appear to be located for maximum protection or even to be well armored.